Welcome to the new Princess: 5 royal ways to save on bub’s arrival

There’s nothing like the lives of a popular royal couple to push a trend, and with the Duke of Cambridge and Duchess of Cornwall having just welcomed their newest addition into the royal family, there’ll be no surprise if we see a spike in birth rates across The Commonwealth over the next year.

Having a baby and getting married are two of the most expensive events in people’s lives. The National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling’s latest income and wealth report uncovered it now costs over $800,000 to bring up two children in a middle-income family.

With William and Kate’s wedding far behind them and a new little royal in front of them it might be a good time to look at some of the ways you can save money when welcoming the newest addition to your family.

To help you out we’ve put together five simple ways to make your money go further when you’ve got a new baby.

1. Choose unisex clothes

It might be a good idea to consider whether you plan on having more babies before you stock up on gender-specific clothing. Of course it’s fun to have a few nice girl or boy flavoured outfits, but what if you have the opposite sex next time around? It might be a good idea to stock up on gender-neutral items for everyday wear, especially in the early months when your baby only wears the clothes for a short period of time. That being said, we’re sure the newest royal will look gorgeous in George’s hand-me-downs no matter what.

Potential money saved: One three-pack of unisex rompers will cost you $25 at Target. Over the course of 6 months this could save you over $200 in rompers alone if you’re able to use them for a second or third round in the future.

2. Borrow items or offer to purchase from friends who are finished having babies

Don’t be shy when it comes to borrowing items – you’ll probably find other mums understand the financial pressures of welcoming a baby into the family and will be only too happy to help. If you don’t feel right about borrowing items, there’s no reason why you can’t offer to purchase items from those who are finished having babies. No doubt Prince Harry’s sized up the royal nursery for when the time comes.

Potential money saved: By borrowing a pram, bath and cot mattress from a friend you could save over $360. Even if you bought these items at half price second hand, you could be saving at least $180 on these three items alone.

3. Set up a photo website or use social media

There’s no need to spend up big on printing photos these days. With websites such as Snapfish, it’s easy to create an account and upload your images for printing. Why not put an album together and share the password around so people can order their own prints? We’re sure Queen Liz is right on top of this one!

Potential money saved: Depending on what people want to print, you could be saving between $1 and $100 on getting your family to print their own photos, albums and canvases.

4. Keep an emergency baby bag in your car

Hopefully Prince Charles’s Aston Martin is fitted with an emergency baby bag, for the next time the young couple borrow it for a spin. Keeping a few spare nappies, snacks, wipes and a bottle in your car will help you from having to make an emergency purchase at an over-priced convenience store.

Potential money saved: Running out of just one nappy while you’re out and about could cost you double the amount you would normally spend on a pack. You could find yourself spending an extra $15- $25 you wouldn’t have normally spent on that particular car ride.

5. Free entertainment

One does not need to spend up big to entertain one’s heir. Check out your local library to see what’s on. Lots of local libraries hold baby-friendly events. As well as this, you can borrow DVDs, music and books from your local library, all for free!

Potential money saved: the possibilities of saving on entertainment are endless – if you spent $10 a month on a new book, over a year that adds up to $120. By visiting your local library every fortnight you could be borrowing a handful of different books and DVDs for free!

What can you do with the money you’ve saved?

No doubt there’ll be lots of areas you can use the money – such as an emergency savings fund for the inevitable surprise costs that pop up. It might be worth considering putting that bit of extra money you’ve saved into a mortgage offset account, attached to your home loan. The money in this account will be offset against the loan, so you’ll only pay interest on the loan amount minus your savings. Another great thing about doing this is that you have full access to the cash at anytime.

Did you find any easy or surprising ways to save money on the arrival of your baby? Or any tips for the royal couple? Share your ideas below!

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This blog post is sponsored by Heritage Bank.

As Australia’s largest customer-owned bank, Heritage Bank puts People first by using its profits to give customers some of the best home loan rates in the country. Visit heritage.com.au today and see how much you could save!

Have your say:
Did you find any easy or surprising ways to save money on the arrival of your baby? Or any tips for the royal couple?
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